Accelerating Change Delivering Sustainable Energy Solutions

ACCELERATING CHANGE -
DELIVERING SUSTAINABLE ENERGY SOLUTIONS

Good practices from Intelligent Energy Europe
and European Territorial Co-operation projects
Proceedings of the joint seminar
Editorial 1
Interview with Marie Donnelly 2
Interview with Colin Wolfe 3
PEER LEARNING
Peer learning: enhancing project results 5
Cities sharing sustainable energy experiences and
solutions by Ioanna Tsalakanidou, EUROCITIES (Belgium) 8
Peer learning to boost investments in sustainable
energy by Bob Pels and Karin Maatje, Province of Flevoland
(Netherlands) 9
Learning in a transnational project: the case of
MUSIC by Chris Roorda, DRIFT, Erasmus University Rotterdam
(Netherlands) 11
Peer-to-peer approach in sustainable energy action
plan development by Marika Roa, Ekodoma (Latvia) and
Federica Fontana, Municipality of Vicenza (Italy) 12
SPATIAL PLANNING
Integrating sustainable energy aspects into spatial
planning 13
Leadership for energy action and planning by Diane
Smith, TCPA (United Kingdom) 16
Future-proof historic city centres by Antonio Borghi,
URBACT thematic expert (Italy) 17
Urban planners with renewable energy skills by Anna-
Maija Ahonen, Aalto University (Finland) 19
Contents
The urban sustainability of compact cities by Pedro
Marn Cots, Urban Environmental Observatory (Spain) 20
MULTI-LEVEL GOVERNANCE
Speeding up sustainable energy planning through
multi-level governance 21
Regions paving way for a sustainable energy Europe
by Nils Daugaard, Energy Consulting Network ApS (Denmark) 24
Energy resund a more sustainable future through
cooperation by Maja Baungaard Jensen and Neel Modin Ynddal,
Energy resund, Karolina Huss, Interreg IVA resund-Kattegat-
Skagerrak Programme (Denmark) 25
Regional energy action planning in the Province of
Alicante by Gemma Beln and Antonio Belmar, Alicante Energy
Agency (Spain) 27
Renewable energies as a motor for sustainable
regional development by Jan Schmidt, atene KOM GmbH
(Germany) 28
FINANCING INSTRUMENTS
Innovative fnancing mechanisms for investments into
energy effciency and renewable energy 29
About Intelligent Energy Europe 34
About INTERACT 34
Participating Projects 35
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Europe and INTERACT
Programme. You are
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institutional opinions.
Contact:
Executive Agency for
Competitiveness and
Innovation (EACI)
Covent Garden Building
Place Rogier 16
BE-1210 Brussels,
Belgium
EACI-IEE-ENQUIRIES@
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ip.viborg@interact-eu.net
Publishers:
Intelligent Energy Europe
Programme,
INTERACT Point Viborg
Editorial Team:
Martin Eibl, Valrie
Benard, Stephan Renner,
Vassilia Argyraki (Intel-
ligent Energy Europe)
Katerina Kring, Nathalie
Wergles (INTERACT)
We thank all those
who contributed to this
publication.
Graphic design:
Nathalie Wergles
Intelligent Energy Europe
is a programme of the
European Union.
INTERACT is co-fnanced
by the European
Regional Development
Fund (ERDF).
EDITORIAL I Proceedings of the joint IEE & INTERACT seminar
1
Dear reader,
We are pleased to introduce you to the frst joint Intelligent Energy Europe and INTERACT publication! This is the
result of a growing co-operation between two European Funding Instruments active in the feld of energy issues.
Faced with the global challenges of climate change and an increasing pressure on limited fossil energy resources,
we must detect our strengths and share best practices.
The Union has set itself a goal of achieving, by 2020, a 20% cut in primary energy use compared to projections;
a 20% reduction in greenhouse gases emissions compared to 1990; and a 20% share of renewable energy in the
total fnal energy consumption of the EU. Meeting these ambitious goals requires many initiatives and concrete
efforts from all governance levels. It requires an initiative that spans across borders in order to engage actors in
understanding the cross-cutting challenges and assets pertinent to their regions. Here, European programmes and
their projects can demonstrate how we can achieve a low carbon, energy effcient and competitive economy.
On 15-16 May 2013, benefciaries and managers from the Intelligent Energy Europe programme (IEE) of DG Energy
and the European Territorial Co-operation programmes (ETC) of DG Regional and Urban Policy met to talk about
Accelerating change at local and regional level for effective delivery of sustainable energy solutions. 67 experts
from 13 programmes participated, empowered each other and promoted the results of their work.
Both IEE and ETC programmes contribute to the delivery of European energy and climate objectives. In the 2007-
2013 period, these programmes have invested nearly EUR 1.3 billion of European funds in more than 900 projects
in the feld of energy. We want to use the project results of both funding instruments in order to share expertise
and best practice with a wider audience, so that we see more sustainable energy solutions implemented through-
out Europe.
This publication summarises the fndings of the two-day event, addressing the following key questions:
How have European Funds been used to facilitate knowledge transfer between local authorities?
What are critical success factors in securing integrated energy/climate actions in urban and spatial planning and
how can we build the capacity of planners to that extent?
What role do regional authorities play in empowering local actions?
What good practice examples exist for sustainable energy planning at regional levels across Europe?
What fnancing mechanisms are suitable for the delivery of sustainable energy actions at local and regional levels?
These questions sparked the debate amongst energy practitioners their professionalism, enthusiasm and commit-
ment led to fruitful and thought-provoking discussions. We hope that by capturing the spirit of the event, we can
inspire many professionals in preparing for the future.
Patrick Lambert Petra Mascov
(Director Executive Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation) (Head of INTERACT Programme)
INTERVIEWS I Proceedings of the joint IEE & INTERACT seminar
2
Ms Donnelly, can you outline the general objectives of EU energy policies and the key
successes already achieved?
Comfortable buildings, transport, manufacturing industry, telecommunications, ... so many
essential services in our day to day lives could not exist without energy. Indeed, without energy
our economies could not function at all. Europe is importing increasing quantities of energy
at volatile, unpredictable prices, which puts the competitiveness of Europes businesses at risk.
Moreover, the increasing fow of currency out of the EU to pay for energy supplies puts the
brakes on our efforts to deliver more growth and jobs. Considering in addition the environmental impacts of burn-
ing oil, gas and coal, whose greenhouse gas emissions result in climate change, it is not surprising that the Euro-
pean Commission has identifed energy as one of Europes biggest societal challenges.
To address these challenges, the EU has set itself some short term targets for 2020, and a longer term goal to
largely decarbonise the energy sector by 2050. At the same time, the EU is committed to securing its energy sup-
plies at affordable prices. A series of directives has been adopted, to ensure that all Member States work together
in the most cost-effective ways to achieve these goals, and of course it will also be essential to establish a single
European energy market.
Let me say a few words about our 2020 targets. Consuming 20% less energy by 2020 is particularly important,
because the cheapest form of energy is the one that is not used at all. Greater energy effciency will reduce our
energy import dependency and therefore have very positive effects on our economy, helping us out of the fnancial
crisis. All sectors of the economy, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, can beneft from improving the
energy effciency of buildings and from changing to more energy-effcient modes of transport.
Supplying 20% of the energy consumed in Europe from renewable sources by 2020 is a collective commitment by
all EU Member States, a commitment which has already led to the creation of more than a million jobs across the
EU. However, the costs of renewables have come down quicker than expected, and several Member States could
not adapt their support schemes fast enough. The resulting retro-active measures in some countries have badly
damaged investor confdence. A more market-based approach is needed now to re-build confdence and encour-
age investments in the period up to 2020 and beyond.
To accommodate higher levels of supply from fuctuating renewable sources such as wind and solar energy, the
EU needs a better inter-connected, more fexible electricity grid, with higher storage capacity and use of demand-
response mechanisms.
Europe is committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 20% of 1990 levels by 2020. The European Com-
mission recently launched discussions on the policy needs for climate and energy towards 2030. The 2030 policy
framework will build on lessons learnt from the 2020 framework, and will identify where improvements can be
made. It is expected to be fnalised around the end of the year.
How can programmes such as Intelligent Energy Europe and the European Territorial Co-operation
programmes contribute to reaching the European energy targets?
Both Intelligent Energy Europe and European Territorial Co-operation programmes contribute to the 2020 targets
through work on the ground with public and private sector stakeholders. These programmes take Europe forward
by fostering the market uptake of proven sustainable energy solutions and services. They help to empower citizens,
businesses and public authorities by providing objective and practical information on which investment decisions
can be based. They also help to create more favourable market conditions, and prepare the ground for investments
by informing sustainable energy policy makers and guiding the implementation of their policies at EU, national,
regional and local levels.
Here are some examples of Intelligent Energy Europe projects which, like many European Territorial Co-operation
projects, are bringing tangible benefts to local and regional communities across the EU:
Interview with Marie Donnelly, Director of Renewables, Research and Innova-
tion, Energy Effciency, European Commissions Directorate-General for Energy
3
Mr Wolfe, what are the Commissions views on the role of the European
Territorial Co-operation Objective programmes for fulflling the European
energy targets?
No doubt the programmes implemented in the framework of the European Territorial Co-op-
eration (ETC) Objective play an important role in supporting Member States to meet EU energy
targets and achieve sustainable growth. ETC programmes facilitate reaching energy targets by
encouraging exchange of experience and good practice between regions across Europe in the
Interview with Colin Wolfe, Head of Unit; Competence Centre Macro-regions and
European Territorial Co-operation - Transnational and Interregional Co-operation,
European Commissions Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy
1
http://ec.europa.eu/energy/effciency/fnancing/campaign_en.htm
(i) ComeOn Labels and ATLETE help European citizens see the energy consumption of the products that they buy,
and ensure that manufacturers comply with energy labelling requirements. More than 75 000 products from 330
shops in 13 countries were checked by the ComeOn Labels project, and ATLETE projects test and check data on
energy labels for 130 models of refrigerator.
(ii) The Concerted Action on Implementation of The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive enables national
authorities from 29 countries to exchange experiences and identify best practices on policies, codes and legislation
aimed at reducing energy consumption in buildings.
How can public authorities actively contribute to applying the various measures outlined in the Energy
Effciency Directive?
The public sector should play an exemplary role in moving the EU towards a sustainable energy system, and this
is recognised in the Directive. To date, more than 4 800 cities and towns have demonstrated their commitment to
this role by signing the Covenant of Mayors, and adopting Sustainable Energy Action Plans.
Public authorities are nevertheless having diffculty in mobilising capital to fnance their energy measures, so the
EU has responded with new fnancing mechanisms such as the ELENA facility and the Energy Effciency Fund.
The Commission has also launched a campaign with workshops and events across Europe to promote the use of
Energy Performance Contracting, particularly for public authorities. The ManagEnergy Initiative funded by IEE is an
important pillar of this campaign
1
.
In the context of the new Multiannual Financial Framework 2014-2020, can one expect an emphasis on
market replication and territorial co-operation initiatives?
Starting in 2014, a new seven-year Multiannual Financial Framework will provide funding for projects and initia-
tives that will help the EU to promote more jobs and growth, in order to deliver on its policy agenda for 2020 and
beyond.
The EUs long term goals require major investments in the energy sector, and several budget lines in the new Multi-
annual Financial Framework will give more emphasis to sustainable energies than has been the case in the past; for
example, Horizon 2020 Programme for Research and Innovation, Connecting Europe Facility, and Cohesion Policy
funding. Details of how the use of these budgets will be prioritised are still being fnalised, but there is no doubt
about the importance of energy effciency and renewable energies in the future economic growth of the EU.
Investing in sustainable energy is a no-regrets option, but EU budgets for the next Multiannual Financial Frame-
work are very small compared with the scale of the investments needed. Therefore, the EU must use each Euro of
its funding strategically, so that it will leverage as many Euros of private funding as possible into investments in the
sustainable energy sector.
4
energy area, as well as by implementing pilot initiatives and testing new energy effciency and saving tools. ETC
programmes point the way to solutions to energy challenges. ETC programmes also play an important role in the
development of joint use of energy infrastructure, creation of missing links in energy infrastructures, etc., which are
crucial to achieving European energy goals.
The draft European Regional Development Fund Regulation proposes, for goal 1 programmes, that a
minimum of 20% in more developed regions, a minimum of 15% in transition regions and a minimum
of 12% in less developed regions of the resources are devoted to energy effciency and renewable
energy related measures. What would be the effect of this proposal for the ETC programmes?
For the period 2014-2020, the Commission has proposed a signifcant concentration of effort on supporting the
shift towards a low-carbon economy in all sectors, i.e., a larger focus on renewable energy, energy effciency and
smart grids at the distribution level. This will lead to signifcantly increased availability of resources for sustainable
energy. ETC should increasingly be utilised in spreading good ideas further, speeding up progress towards energy
targets. More ETC programmes will focus on energy effciency and renewable energy, and as a result more invest-
ments will be relevant to this theme.
What are the territorial patterns of energy challenges in Europe that can be observed, and how should
programmes and projects relate to these challenges in the new period?
All European regions face common challenges in the feld of energy, such as the need for greater sustainability and
energy effciency, security and diversity in energy supplies. However, some energy challenges and potentials are
specifc for different parts of the EU. For example, in the Baltic Sea region the key issue is the lack of energy inter-
connections between the Baltic States and the rest of the EU, and their high dependence on one energy supplier.
The Danube Region is characterized by several common problems: high energy prices, security of supply, high de-
pendency on individual suppliers, defcient infrastructure and a low share of renewables in the energy mix. The ETC
programmes should address these challenges in a tailor-made way, with actions and projects to be implemented
under specifc ETC programmes addressing those specifc energy challenges.
The Common Strategic Framework calls for exploring complementarity and coordination between the
European Structural and Investment Funds and other Union policies and instruments. For example,
INTERACT and Intelligent Energy Europe have worked together since 2010. What are the benefts from
this co-operation and how can such practices be furthered in view of the 2014-2020 period?
We need policies to support each other. This means we can do what we want more successfully, with overall ener-
gy policy on markets or renewables or effciencies being carried through also by regional funding. This is exactly the
aim of the Common Strategic Framework. As regards the co-operation between INTERACT and Intelligent Energy
Europe, it has been very valuable. It accelerates considerably the sharing of expertise and experiences in relation to
energy matters. The potential for further co-operation between INTERACT and Intelligent Energy Europe in the next
programming period should be further developed.
What is the one most memorable fact picked up during the joint Intelligent Energy Europe and
INTERACT conference?
The high level of commitment of local and regional authorities and actors across the EU in implementing sustain-
able energy projects. There is a wealth of experience and knowledge available which needs to be further fostered.
There appears to be a strong desire to facilitate links in improving energy effciency and developing renewable
energy initiatives and projects, in particular in a cross-border and transnational context.
I fnd this very encouraging.
PEER LEARNING I Proceedings of the joint IEE & INTERACT seminar
5
hand, by the strengthened mutual
learning and deepened exchange of
practice between participating part-
ners, and on the other, by promot-
ing practical, hands-on exchange
coupled with analysis of existing
practices in the respective felds. Peer
learning is a recognised means for
capacity-building and competence
enhancement.
The many faces of peer learning
Peer learning can have many faces
and take many forms. In a workshop
session dedicat-
ed to the sub-
ject, participants
from Intelligent
Energy Europe
and European
Territorial Co-operation projects
identifed the peer learning tech-
niques commonly adopted in their
practice. Most of these involve face-
to-face interactions between part-
ners and relate to:
f staff exchange aiming at
strengthening co-operation among
partners by optimising the opportu-
nities presented by exchange visits in
partners. Peer learning activities pro-
vide a natural environment for this
knowledge to thrive, be moulded
and transformed into new experi-
ences and practices, thus supporting
innovativeness and entrepreneurship
in projects.
The critical talents of peer learning
activities are the promotion of re-
fection, development and enhance-
ment. It is envisaged that, through
peer-assisted refective practice, in-
dividuals and organisations alike will
develop within the area of their com-
petency. Peer learning goes beyond
information gathering and encour-
ages constructive dialogue and re-
fection between project practition-
ers and other key actors.
The role that peer learning plays for
the enhancement of good quality
project results is driven, on the one
Put simply, peer learning is a process
where practitioners and actors from
one country or organisation learn,
through direct contact and practical
co-operation, from the experiences
of their counterparts elsewhere in
Europe in areas of shared interest
and concern
2
.
Reaching beyond sharing knowl-
edge and expertise
Projects funded by Intelligent En-
ergy Europe and European Territorial
Co-operation programmes are com-
posed of large
p a r t n e r s h i p s
representing a
variety of organi-
sations, working
cultures, set-ups
and different nationalities. An undis-
puted added value of these projects
is that high quality of results feeds
on the collective experience, knowl-
edge sharing and transfer among the
Peer learning:
enhancing project results
Peer-to-peer learning, also known as peer learning, is an aspect of co-operation and a fundamental
feature of good practice pertinent to European projects. Where there is a need for policy to embrace a
diversity of actors, to recognise existing practice and to foster delivery of quality results, peer learning
helps to think out-of-the-box and, ultimately, leads to better results. Peer learning relates to individu-
als, organisations, municipalities and regions, thus has strong connotation in promoting excellence in
European governance. By the same token, local and regional authorities working in EU-funded projects
beneft from the exchange of experience in drawing up energy strategies and plans with their
European colleagues.
Peer learning is something we all do,
but still we dont make the most of it!
2
Source: European Commission (2006). Op-
erational guide for Clusters and Peer Learn-
ing Activities (PLAs) in the context of the Ed-
ucation and Training 2010 work programme
6
ment of peer review and assessment
systems, integrated in the implemen-
tation of projects, provides partners
with a common appraisal system in
order to establish a basis for mutual
comparison, transnational co-opera-
tion and learning. In the project Re-
gions 4 Green Growth, peer review
of a group of experts helped the
participating regions to understand
how well their policies and practices
are working and supported them in
making improvements.
f discussion groups usually es-
tablished as online platforms. These
groups are used to promote in-depth
discussion and common understand-
ing on topics of common interest.
Discussion groups have been used
as platforms for consensus-reaching
and decision-making.
between all partners, through set-
ting up ongoing relationships of
learning, dialogue and communica-
tion. For example, the project CAS-
CADE used the mentoring technique
for improving the implementation of
local sustainable energy policies.
f work shadowing this meth-
od bears some resemblance to staff
exchange and relates to direct obser-
vation of how a person/organisation
works and goes about their day-to-
day job, and brings many ben-
efits to the par-
ticipating partners. For example, the
project LEAP arranged a four-week
exchange among peers. Within this
time, partners from city administra-
tions observed and learned about
the working procedures of their
counterparts.
f peer review and assessment
by using the system of peer review,
partners assist the process of mutual
learning and stimulate the process
of feeding a large range of exper-
tise into the project initiatives, pilot
projects, plans and visions. Develop-
order to acquire a better understand-
ing of the culture in which partners
operate. Staff exchanges were suc-
cessfully organised, for example, by
the ACE-NWE project to foster the
replication of successful projects in
the feld of renewable energy pro-
duction.
f site visits - designed for partici-
pants to obtain understanding and
gain frst-hand knowledge of the en-
vironment within which a projects
on-the-ground work is embedded.
This form of peer learning often in-
cludes the demonstration of a par-
ticular skill, procedure or method of
working pertinent to a project part-
ner.
f partner-to-partner mentor-
ing and coaching these forms
of learning are used extensively by
projects in order to strengthen com-
munication within the partnerships.
They are appreciated as they pro-
mote targeted knowledge transfer,
usually from more experienced to
less experienced partners, but also
Fig. 1: Peer learning (source: An Engineers
Without Borders Facilitation Guide)
7
a platform for the development and
discussion of sustainable urban mod-
els. In Alicante, Spain, peer learning
has promoted the establishment of
an energy savings plan. Many prac-
titioners highlighted the contribution
towards improved Sustainable En-
ergy Action Plans.
An important expression of peer
learning has been demonstrated
by implementation of collective im-
provements in the integrated energy
plans by partners and cities involved
in projects, and the identifcation
and replication of best practices
throughout Europe. Infuences on
the legal and political environment,
and support in the development of
innovative business models have also
resulted from successful peer learn-
ing practices.
All partnerships have valuable knowl-
edge and expertise to share! That
assured, European excellence is fos-
tered and promoted. In the words of
one participant: Peer learning takes
us out of our comfort zones but it is
certainly worth the effort.
f The peer learning activity should
be designed to meet the objectives
set.
f Evaluating the results from peer
learning once it has taken place is
needed in order to assess effective-
ness and plan for quality improve-
ments.
The implementation of this value
chain is supported by a number of
rudiments. Securing commitment
from the participating partners and
the institutions they represent, open-
ness and access to data and knowl-
edge, identifcation of participants
with appropriate background, creat-
ing ownership of the process and the
expected results, creating a platform
where all ideas are taken on-board
represent a few. These, coupled with
more technical aspects, such as time,
duration, language, location, and
size of learning groups illustrate the
variety of factors accompanying peer
learning processes.
Successful practice has found dem-
onstration in numerous ways. In the
City of Malaga, Spain, peer learning
has supported the establishment of
To peer or not to peer: the key
to successful replication of good
practice
What makes peer learning success-
ful and where can we go wrong? The
workshop on peer learning focused
discussions on what can be done in
order to make peer learning an effec-
tive tool for delivering high-quality
project results. One of the partici-
pants shared:
It takes courage to participate in
peer-to-peer activities, and another
replied: Peer learning is something
we all do, but still we dont make the
most of it!
Making the most of it requires thor-
ough preparation and understanding
of the process. Participants elaborat-
ed on the various aspects that make
peer learning successful, and on the
basis of this input the following proc-
ess value chain can be deducted:
f Peer learning starts with agree-
ing on the needs to be addressed.
f Based on identifed needs, spe-
cifc learning objectives can be de-
rived.
Peer learning takes us out of
our comfort zones but it is cer-
tainly worth the effort.
8
f The learning experience should
be benefcial for everyone involved.
The peer learning visits should be
interactive, allowing both the hosts
and visitors to share their own ex-
periences and learn from the experi-
ences of others.
f Building personal contacts is es-
sential for a good, long collaboration
between cities. The programme of
the visit should allow opportunities
for participants to network, to get
familiar with each others work and
in general to get to know each other
better.
The CASCADE methodology made
the peer learning experience ben-
efcial for all the cities involved. This
is echoed in the feedback from the
peer reviews:
f 80% of cities are more confdent
in using this methodology for shar-
ing sustainable energy knowledge
and experiences with other cities.
f 75% have increased their knowl-
edge on implementation of local sus-
tainable energy policies.
f 82% have established new per-
sonal networks and contacts across
Europe.
f 60% have improved the imple-
mentation of their energy policies.
f 45% have increased co-opera-
tion with local stakeholders.
f 20% have already started devel-
oping new local sustainable energy
policies or projects.
CASCADE led to improvements in
existing projects and gave inspiration
for the initiation of new ones. For
example, a peer review helped the
The CASCADE project supports cit-
ies in the implementation of sustain-
able energy policies by providing the
necessary tools to ensure meaningful
and sustained learning, and sharing
of good practices on local energy
leadership.
It has developed a CASCADE toolkit
for peer-to-peer learning on local
energy leadership, offering opera-
tional guidelines for effective peer
learning visits, including programme
preparation, tips for maximising the
learning impact of the visit, and for
transferring the new knowledge and
skills gained back home. The use of
effective learning methods (peer re-
view, mentoring, work shadowing
and study visits) was tested by en-
gaging 75 large and medium Europe-
an cities in transnational exchanges.
The knowledge shared and gathered
during the peer learning visits will
be included in the CASCADE good
practice collection. This collection
will include examples of how cities
are addressing key challenges in the
implementation of local energy poli-
cies.
Some key recommendations for suc-
cessful peer learning are:
f It is important to enrol in the
learning process all categories of
actors involved in the development
and implementation of energy poli-
cies: city experts, decision makers,
local stakeholders. Delivering energy
policies is not only about identifying
the right technical solutions, but also
making sustainability a political pri-
ority and gaining local stakeholders
support.
Cities sharing sustainable energy
experiences and solutions
Ioanna Tsalakanidou, EUROCITIES (Belgium)
Programme website: ec.europa.
eu/energy/intelligent/
Project website: www.cascadecities.eu
Project coordinator: EUROCITIES asbl,
Belgium, Ms Ioanna Tsalakanidou,
ioanna.tsalakanidou@eurocities.eu
Project budget: EUR 2 033 529.00
(EU contribution: 75%)
Project duration: 01.06.2011 31.05.2014
9
review. This is done in co-operation
with the regions stakeholders, and
involves the preparation of a set of
background information for the ex-
perts (the peer team), and a relevant
programme for the peer review, in-
cluding meetings with politicians, in-
terviews with stakeholders and feld
visits. Following the peer review, the
experts prepare a report with recom-
mendations, which is then used by
the host region to improve policies
and practices.
Success factors
The methodology is surprisingly ef-
fective, as the international team
possesses a great amount of knowl-
edge and experience. Practice has
shown that all host regions discover,
Regions4GreenGrowth is an INTER-
REG IVC project that aims to improve
access to fnance and boost invest-
ments in sustainable energy. Peer
review is used in the course of this
work as a successful expression of
peer learning.
How does peer review work?
All 13 partner regions in Regions-
4GreenGrowth organize a fve-day
peer review, during which a team of
10 to 15 experts from different coun-
tries visit the host region to assess its
policies and practices in the feld of
sustainable energy, and give advice
on improvements. The process takes
approximately six months (see Fig.5),
and begins with the host region de-
termining a focus area for the peer
Peer learning to boost investments
in sustainable energy
Bob Pels and Karin Maatje, Province of Flevoland (Netherlands)
city of Birmingham to improve its en-
ergy effcient building policy, while a
work shadowing visit in Nantes was
a source of inspiration for new or-
ganisational structures in the city of
Venice.
Fig. 2 & 3: CASCADE cities review Tam-
peres policies on energy effcient buildings
and districts (photo: Elli Kotakorpi, City of
Tampere)
as a result of the process, that they
either have blind spots or problems
Fig. 4.: Wind park in Flevoland
(photo: Juul Baars)
10
Programme website:
www.interreg4c.eu/
Project website:
www.regions4greengrowth.eu
Project lead partner: Province of
Flevoland, Netherlands, Bob Pels,
bob.pels@fevoland.nl, Karin Maatje,
karin.maatje@fevoland.nl
ERDF co-fnancing: EUR 1 621 841.26
Project duration:
January 2012 December 2014
that other regions have already
found a solution to. One of the
Swedish project partners said: We
were convinced that we were doing
pretty well, but the peer review was
an eye opener. Weve discovered
that we can improve things quite
a lot, especially in the feld of lead-
ership and public-private partner-
ships. The advice given by the peer
team may not be strikingly new, but
having its ideas confrmed brings the
host region more (political) weight
and a reassurance that it is on the
right track.
Valencia was the frst region to have
a peer review, and is now putting the
initial recommendations into prac-
tice. They have started to realize en-
ergy effciency measures in the public
sector, for example in hospitals, by
engaging Energy Service Companies.
Transferability to other regions
A peer review can be organized in
every region and on different sub-
jects (for example, the Assembly of
European Regions has organized
reviews in the felds of sustainable
tourism and youth employment). A
successful peer review requires clear
focus, thorough preparation and
careful selection of experts. Further-
more, the people in the host region
need to be prepared to show their
weaknesses and their success sto-
ries. Finally, political commitment
from the beginning is very important
for ensuring that the peer review rec-
ommendations will be imbedded in
the regions policies.
Development and investment
organisation for sustainable
energy
In addition to peer review, knowl-
edge is transferred by means of mas-
ter classes and pilots on how to cre-
ate a Development and Investment
Organisation (DIO) for sustainable
energy. Flevoland, Manchester and
Noord-Brabant have experience in
creating an investment fund which
works best in combination with a
project development unit. The mas-
ter classes focus on the why, the
how and the feasibility of a DIO.
Lazio and Prahova region are cur-
rently doing a feasibility study to
start a DIO.
Fig. 5: Pathway of the peer review method-
ology. Adapted from and with thanks to the
SMART EUROPE project (source: MUSIC)
11
on own experiences, and the curios-
ity to listen to others. Extensive prep-
aration contributed to a meaningful
exchange of experiences; for exam-
ple, interviewing the participants in
advance enhanced the learning ex-
perience. Site visits, as well as cele-
bration of intermediate results, made
the progress tangible and motivated
the group.
Learning has spilled beyond the
project partners: the MUSIC project
aims to inspire and inform cities
across Europe about the benefts of
implementing the TM-approach. As
a follow-up, opportunities for organ-
ising intensive training sessions with
individual cities or (inter)national city
networks are explored.
To structure the learning process,
each partner city has been assigned
a city coach who trains the policy
offcers involved and assists them in
adapting and implementing the ap-
proach. A guidance manual assists
the application of the TM-approach,
and this manual is updated yearly to
include new insights emerging from
experiences created in the project.
Furthermore, the project partners
learn from each other in half yearly
transnational workshops, document-
ed by visual memory aids.
The transnational workshops have
proven to be a valuable tool for
exchange of experience and for
boosting the motivation of the par-
ticipating policy offcers who have
an important task of promoting this
innovative approach among their,
sometimes sceptical, colleagues. All
partner cities bear differences (e.g.,
in policy culture and size) and simi-
larities (all dealing with sustainability
challenges and applying the TM-ap-
proach), and have a lot to learn from
each other.
The workshops lead to insights ap-
plicable to their own settings for
example, concerning the role of local
government, the framing of the CO
2

reduction challenge, or the embed-
ding of the project in the city admin-
istration.
Partners agreed that the most im-
portant preconditions for successful
peer learning in the context of Tran-
sition Management relate to the will-
ingness to share and critically refect
MUSIC - Mitigation in Urban Con-
text, Solutions for Innovative Cities
- is a co-operation project between
fve cities and two research institutes
in North-Western Europe. The main
aim of the project is to catalyse and
mainstream carbon and energy re-
duction in urban policies, activities
and the built environment. The cities
work on this ambitious goal in three
parallel ways: by implementing pilot
projects, by developing a Geospatial
Urban Energy Information and Sup-
port System to integrate energy in
urban planning, and by applying the
Transition Management
3
approach
(TM) to mobilise stakeholders to take
action for CO
2
reduction.
The application of TM in the context
of the project is a prominent exam-
ple of how partners learn from each
other. This innovative approach ena-
bles the cities to build up networks
of change-agents and, together
with them, formulate and take up
an agenda for a low-carbon future.
The application of this approach is
challenging for the policy offcers in-
volved, because it requires them to
get out of their comfort zone and
critically refect on their role and
practice.
Learning in a transnational project:
the case of MUSIC
Chris Roorda, DRIFT, Erasmus University Rotterdam (Netherlands)
Transition Management seeks to infu-
ence the direction and pace of societal
change by strategically creating space for
new paradigms and practices. The key is
the building up of a network of change-
agents, jointly drafting a systemic change
perspective, and empowering diverse ac-
tors to engage in, and learn from, initia-
tives contributing to a sustainable future.
Programme website: www.nweurope.eu
Project website: www.themusicproject.eu
Project lead partner:
City of Rotterdam, Netherlands, Ms Esther
Sprangers, e.sprangers@rotterdam.nl
Project duration: 09.04.2009
30.06.2014
12
The second step included the crea-
tion of twinning partnerships. In the
initial phase of the project, each tu-
tor municipality selected four trainee
municipalities. The trainee munici-
palities were then split in pairs. Twin-
ning activities included visits of the
tutor municipalities to their trainee
municipalities, study visits and regu-
lar tutor-trainee meetings
To facilitate the twinning activities, a
checklist of 10 sets of questions was
developed, based on Covenant of
Mayors guidelines and different In-
telligent Energy Europe projects. The
objective of the checklist is to allow
municipalities to focus on the devel-
opment of the Sustainable Energy
Action Plan and the implementation
of the measures to identify the main
drivers and barriers, as well as on
monitoring.
The frst observations from the twin-
ning partnership activities have re-
vealed that there is a great potential
for municipalities to learn from each
other. However, it is essential to give
clear instructions and guidance to
participants prior to any peer learn-
ing activities, in order to best capi-
talise from this approach. Moreover,
a collaborative working climate must
be established from the beginning to
allow trainee municipalities to iden-
tify their weak points and work on
possibilities for improvement.
The CONURBANT project (An inclu-
sive peer-to-peer approach to involve
EU CONURBations and wide areas
in participating to the CovenANT of
Mayors) aims at helping medium and
large cities as well as smaller towns
in their urban area to address sustain-
able energy planning issues through
capacity building, using peer-to-peer
support and training between less
(trainee) and more experienced
(tutor) municipalities.
The frst step in the project was the
organisation of three centralised
training sessions for the trainee mu-
nicipalities to increase their knowl-
edge regarding the Covenant of
Mayors, fnancing possibilities, tech-
nical issues like energy effciency,
and involvement of stakeholders
through energy forums. Based on
these centralised training sessions,
local sessions for conurbation mu-
nicipalities and also civil servants
within the trainee municipalities
were organised, in order to spread
the knowledge to those, whose col-
laboration was crucial. In total, 448
local stakeholders were trained.
Peer-to-peer approach in sustainable
energy action plan development
Marika Roa, Ekodoma (Latvia) and Federica Fontana, Municipality of Vicenza (Italy)
Project website: www.conurbant.eu
Project coordinator: Municipality of
Vicenza, Italy, Ms Federica Fontana,
conurbant@comune.vicenza.it
Project duration:
10.05.2011 10.05.2014
SPATIAL PLANNING I Proceedings of the joint IEE & INTERACT seminar
13
nical infrastructure, such as water
supply and transport infrastructure,
and public services, such as mobile
nursing services or garbage collec-
tion. Spatial planning can infuence
the demand for (private) motorized
transport, by increasing spatial den-
sity, thus reducing journey distances
and, making public transportation a
viable option, and by supporting a
mixed land use
with good local
supply structure
of goods and
service.
The role of spatial planning
Spatial planning is a key instrument
for establishing long-term frame-
works for social, territorial and eco-
nomic development. Its primary role
is to enhance the integration be-
tween sectors such as housing, trans-
port, energy and industry, and to im-
and mono-functional land use are
generally thought to increase energy
demand for dwelling, infrastructure
and mobility. In a study for Switzer-
land
4
, the contribution of settlement
types on primary energy demand was
estimated at 10 to 30%. Promoting
a compact urban development with
mixed land use is one of the key com-
petences of spatial planners. Spatial
planning intervenes on the level of
settlement structures and building
types, all of which has implications
on the demand for heating, cooling,
and lighting of buildings. Land use
patterns and settlement structures
also impact on energy demand by in-
creasing both the demand for tech-
Spatial dimensions of sustain-
able energy systems
Achieving the EU 20-20-20 objectives
will have to rely on the contribution
of an integrated policy approach to
land use and transport planning to
boost renewable energy produc-
tion and curb energy consumption.
The successful transition towards a
sustainable energy system implies
a more region-
alised energy
provision. The
production of
energy from re-
newable sources
requires larger
areas of land, as compared to an
energy supply based on the import
of fossil energy carriers. Spatial plan-
ners have to mediate between com-
peting land uses and secure areas for
the expansion of renewable energy
production.
Low density, sprawling development
Integrating sustainable energy
aspects into spatial planning
How we arrange our daily activities (e.g., dwelling, work, education, leisure, mobility, etc.) in space has
fundamental implications on energy consumption, production and distribution. Spatial planning has a
pivotal role to play in securing areas for the expansion of renewable energy production and in creat-
ing urban development which favours less energy-intensive lifestyles. Spatial planning also plays
an active part in developing and implementing energy strategies and action plans towards a
sustainable urban model.
Spatial planners need to have a bet-
ter understanding of the implica-
tions that their decisions have.
4
Source: Ott, Walter, Arend, Michal, Philippen, Daniel, Gilgen, Kurt, et al. (2008). Energieaspekte stdtischer Quartiere und lndlicher
Siedlungen, Final report, Zurich, Bundesamt fr Energie
14
public and that serves as the uniting
component for all stakeholders. The
vision will set out the guiding prin-
ciples for the next 15 to 20 years for
the overall development of the terri-
tory, and will ensure a stable frame-
work for actions within the given
territory. A sustainable spatial model,
which includes not only energy as-
pects but also aspects like social co-
hesion and effcient use of resources,
needs to be pursued. Good practice
examples for an integrated sustain-
able urban development are evident
in places such as
the Western Har-
bour in Malm,
Sweden. Here
the energy plan-
ning team is in-
tegrated within
the Planning Department of the mu-
nicipality. During the planning of the
new neighbourhood, spatial and en-
ergy planners from the City worked
closely together to ensure an effec-
tive district heating system was es-
tablished using aquifers, heat pumps
and solar. The system was also con-
nected to the existing city district
heating to allow for import and ex-
ports. Renewable energy provides
the area with 100% of its electricity,
and the houses are built to high en-
ergy effciency standards, while food
waste is collected for biogas produc-
tion. The environment department
How to better integrate sustain-
able energy aspects into spatial
planning?
The question on how to better inte-
grate sustainable energy aspects into
spatial planning was explored in a
workshop session by a group of 21
representatives from Intelligent En-
ergy Europe and European Territorial
Co-operation projects, with the par-
ticipation of the European Council
of Spatial Planners. The discussions
centred on opportunities and barri-
ers in integrating energy and climate
actions in spatial planning. Good
practices in linking energy and spa-
tial planning exist across Europe, and
were shared by the participants:
f The implementation of effec-
tive spatial planning depends on
the development of relevant laws,
policies, guidance, procedures and
incentives. Ensuring the necessary
political support for energy strategies
and plans is one of the key factors
for success. Implementation of an
integrated spatial plan also requires
a long-term vision that inspires poli-
ticians, authorities and the general
prove urban and rural development,
taking environmental concerns into
consideration. Spatial planning is
the responsibility of the public sector
and is cross-sectorial by nature. Even
though integrating a wide variety of
sectors, including sustainable energy
aspects, into a single strategy max-
imises the public good and economic
effciency, this integrated approach
is mainly hindered by lack of politi-
cal commitment, lack of capacity of
spatial planners and other relevant
professional bodies, and lack of dedi-
cated structures fostering collabora-
tion between the
various govern-
ance levels and
administration.
Even though
there is no re-
sponsibility for
spatial planning at European level,
it does not mean that this subject is
left unattended. Several EU papers
and strategies have been published
in the past, arguing strongly for in-
tegrative spatial planning and co-op-
eration between regions. The EU Co-
hesion Policy including its territorial
cohesion objective clearly emphasis-
es the need for co-operation and an
integrated, place-based approach.
Other European initiatives, such as
the Covenant of Mayors
5
, promote
the implementation of Sustainable
Energy Action Plans to reach the 20-
20-20 objectives
6
.
Pioneer local authorities play a crucial
role in achieving the EU 2020 energy
goals. We need more local leadership!
5
http://www.covenantofmayors.eu/index_en.html
6
http://ec.europa.eu/energy/strategies/2010/2020_en.htm
15
environment, of transport and
of the opportunities offered by re-
newable energy. However, they do
not necessarily have to be experts in
new technologies.
The range of spatial planning is very
vast, and sustainable energy systems,
their generation as well as their utili-
sation, are intrinsically linked to spa-
tial management. Spatial planners
can thus greatly infuence the use
of energy when siting, zoning and
mixing land uses. It is then of great
added-value to integrate sustainable
energy aspects into the single spa-
tial strategy, enabling to build more
sustainable and energy self-suffcient
communities. In order to achieve this,
sustainable energy aspects need to
better fnd their way into the work-
ing practices of spatial planners, and
a more participatory working model
should be fostered between energy
and planning professionals.
Clear legislation and funding policies
as well as improved organisational
infrastructure are critical, and the fo-
cus should go from physical land use
regulations to an integrative spatial
planning approach. If executed well,
spatial planning strategies can help
avoid duplication of efforts by actors
and support a sustainable model of
development in communities. Bot-
tom-up initiatives on this aspect can
be observed across Europe but more
remains to be done.
leadership at the municipality level is
also a key to driving public debate.
f An important factor for the suc-
cess of spatial planning is the capac-
ity of the team. Pursuing a multi-
disciplinary approach, enhancing
inter-departmental coordination and
providing for a clear distribution of
responsibilities are critical success
factors. The spatial planning team
should be composed of mixed pro-
fessionals in order to include a wide
range of expertise, and spatial plan-
ners should assume the role of me-
diator.
f Although knowledge of sus-
tainable energy aspects exists
among spatial planners, it seems
that they still experience problems
in applying these concepts and
techniques related to these in their
daily work. Tailored capacity build-
ing for spatial planners need to be
increased through life-long learning
programmes, energy topics must
become an integral part of univer-
sity curricula, and peer learning
with other cities in the framework
of European programmes should be
fostered. Spatial planners need to
have a better understanding of the
implications that their decisions have
on the energy demand of the built
was the driving
force, and working groups
were set up combining them with
the planning department and the
services department of the city. The
energy planning was embedded
within the planning of the new ur-
ban development in a holistic way.
At city level, the Malm Comprehen-
sive Plan combines different layers of
infrastructure on one map, which al-
lows for the integrated siting of new
energy installations in areas of new
housing development
7
.
f Involving stakeholders, i.e.,
those involved in the decision-mak-
ing process (local authorities and
other tiers of government), as well
as businesses, private investors,
community representatives, non-
governmental organisations and the
general public, at an early stage of
the process is crucial. They are often
willing to engage in the discussions
on spatial planning, since it directly
involves and affects end-users. It is
important to note that the infuence
of energy suppliers should not be un-
derestimated. Engaging with the rel-
evant actors in the planning process
can lead to the emergence of inno-
vative ideas and increase the overall
acceptance of measures. Public par-
ticipation can also lead to signifcant
changes in energy consumption or
mobility behaviour patterns. Political
7
http://www.malmo.se/English/Sustaina-
ble-City-Development
16
Many EU municipalities are chal-
lenged to deliver SEAPs because of
the lack of integration between de-
partments, with the result that the
desired holistic approach to creating
and sustaining low carbon solutions
is not happening. LEAP project part-
ners have worked closely together to
identify, and then implement, tech-
niques and actions to raise aware-
ness of the SEAP process across all
municipality departments, particu-
larly spatial planning.
Through peer-to-peer working, men-
toring and work-shadowing, the
partners have gained direct experi-
ence of integrated ways of work-
ing, as well as visiting successfully
planned low carbon communities.
Three case studies from Zagreb,
Hannover and Southampton on spa-
tial planning and energy have been
particularly valuable in identifying
the role of planners and the way in
which collaborative working creates
sustainable results.
Local leadership and spatial planning
have a crucial role to play in creat-
ing urban environments that support
less energy-intense lifestyles and the
move towards low carbon commu-
nities. Two Intelligent Energy Europe
funded projects aim to create better
integration between spatial plan-
ning and sustainable energy supply
and delivery: LEAP - Leadership for
Energy Action and Planning and SPE-
CIAL Spatial Planning and Energy
for Communities in All Landscapes.
The LEAP project is a partnership of
nine local authorities from seven EU
countries with the aim of embed-
ding Sustainable Energy Action Plans
(SEAPs) into the corporate strategies
of municipalities at local and regional
level. LEAP aims to increase the abil-
ity of EU local authorities to pioneer
and promote the use of sustainable
energy measures, and bridges the
gap between the EUs high level tar-
gets and local action on the ground,
primarily through the development
and adoption of SEAPs.
Leadership for
energy action and planning
Diane Smith, Town and Country Planning Association (United Kingdom)
Project website: leap-eu.org/
Project coordinator: Town and
Country Planning Association (TCPA),
United Kingdom, Isobel Bruun-Kir,
Isobel.Bruun-Kiaer@tcpa.org.uk
Project budget: EUR 1 975 383
Projects duration:
18.05.2011 18.11.2013
Fig. 6: Biomass
plant site visit in
the City of Hagen
(photo: TCPA)
Project website: www.special-eu.org/
Project coordinator: Town and
Country Planning Association (TCPA),
United Kingdom, Ms Diane Smith,
Diane.Smith@tcpa.org.uk
Project duration:
08.03.2013 08.03.2016
17
The URBACT LINKS Network partner
cities claim that historic centres
must evolve to exist. They affrm
that this is not only possible, but
necessary, and in the long run it is
always proftable to combine herit-
age conservation and improvements
in energy performance of buildings,
social cohesion and economic devel-
opment. They propose that relevant
policy makers rely on the active en-
gagement of European historic cit-
ies to promote a sound sustainable
urban development which is ener-
gy-effcient, environmentally sensi-
tive and full of opportunities for lo-
cal economies. The LINKS partners
came to this conclusion, considering
specifc examples within their own
Cities are key players in the reduc-
tion of CO
2
emissions and the fght
against climate change. Energy con-
sumption in urban areas mostly in
transport and housing is respon-
sible for a large share of CO
2
emis-
sions. The urban way of life is both
part of the problem and part of the
solution. In Europe, CO
2
emission per
person is much lower in urban areas
compared to non-urban areas
8
. The
density of urban areas allows for
more energy-effcient forms of hous-
ing, transport and service provision.
Consequently, measures to address
climate change may be more eff-
cient and cost-effective in big and
compact cities than in less densely
built space
9
.
Future-proof historic city centres
Antonio Borghi, URBACT thematic expert in physical regeneration of urban areas (Italy)
8
Source: International Energy Agency (2008). World Energy Outlook, Geneva
9
Source: European Commission (2011). Cities of tomorrow, Challenges, visions, ways
forward
Fig. 7: Integrating
sustainable energy sup-
ply and infrastructure
through planning at the
local level - The London
Nine Elms Plan (photo:
SPECIAL)
Building upon the results of LEAP,
the project SPECIAL aims to build the
capacity of Town Planning Associa-
tions to integrate sustainable energy
solutions into spatial planning train-
ing, practice and delivery. Recognis-
ing that spatial planning and urban
planners have a central part to play
in developing energy strategies and
actions plans, the SPECIAL project
has been set up to help bring to-
gether climate change/energy action
planning and spatial and urban plan-
ning.
Working with partners representing
national or regional planning asso-
ciations in eight different member
states, SPECIAL will focus initially on
studying and learning from existing
good practice in the UK, Sweden and
Germany. Partners will then develop
country specifc training portfolios
for piloting through multiplier or-
ganisations working with local au-
thority planners at the local and re-
gional level. In addition, by working
with the European Council of Spatial
Planners, the SPECIAL project will
launch the frst-ever Spatial Plan-
ning and Energy Award and also
produce a pan-European training
manual in several languages.
Programme website: urbact.eu
Project website: http://urbact.eu/en/
projects/urban-renewal/links/homepage/
Project lead partner: City of Bay-
onne, France, Ms Frdrique CAL-
VANUS, f.calvanus@bayonne.fr
Project duration: 2009-2013
18
key driver, but this does not mean
that it can be dealt with in isolation.
On the contrary, only the awareness
of the whole range of implications
and interdependencies of the choice
between different retroftting op-
tions (shallow to deep), scales (from
the urban area to the single unit) and
steps (fnancing, designing and deliv-
ering) can guarantee the best result.
Energy retroftting of historic build-
ings requires conscious clients, pro-
fessionals and contractors that have
the requisite skills and understand-
ing of how historic buildings oper-
ate. For example, historic buildings
invariably have a breathable shell.
Applying an air-tight type of insula-
tion and relying only on mechanical
ventilation could create excessive hu-
midity and dampness, damaging the
fabric irreversibly. A sound balance
between air tightness and unwanted
heat loss through the envelope and
controlled ventilation needs to be
found. Research evidence
10
shows
that it might well be far more eff-
cient to improve the effciency of en-
ergy production and delivery instead
of investing in wall insulation, which
is the most costly and diffcult ret-
roftting measure to be undertaken.
A truly sustainable approach should
take into account the embedded en-
ergy of each building material and
technique, preferring eco-materials
and local craftsmen to mass-pro-
duced industry products, but this of-
ten clashes with certifcation systems
and market barriers.
historic centres, re-discovering that
the paradigm of sustainable urban
development is the European his-
toric compact city model. In fact,
European cities can be space-saving,
energy and resource effcient, thriv-
ing centres of economic develop-
ment and social cohesion, thanks to
the fruitful exchange among diverse
cultural identities and social groups.
Today, as the car dependant & sin-
gle home on the greenfeld suburbia
model is rapidly declining, we have
to retroft our existing compact cities
and their infrastructure, re-shaping
their relationship with the surround-
ing regions.
Among the manifold aspects of ur-
ban heritage preservation and re-de-
velopment, energy effciency is the
Fig. 8: Almera: historic centre as key asset
for green growth (photo: City of Almera)
Fig. 9: Bayonne: retroftting our historic
centres for the next generation (photo: City
of Bayonne)
10
Source: Dittmann, Robbi (2008).
Fernwrmeausbau versus Dmmung
auf Passivhausstandard, In: Euroheat
& Power, Fernwrme International,
37, Nr.7/8, pp. 26-31
19
However, some economic challenges
need to be overcome as the Europe-
an fnancial crisis continues.
The pilot training has been carried
out, but the need for training is still
there. New efforts are required to ex-
tend the training to other countries
and planning schools. To support ex-
tending training, the UP-RES project
provided training schemes and ma-
terials, translating the latter into
10 European languages in terms of
introductory texts and 3 000 slides
that are downloadable on the web.
together and share experiences,
obtain information and co-create
knowledge. For instance, in Barce-
lona the head of an urban planning
department told how the employees
have come up with new ideas and
enthusiasm on integrating renew-
able energy skills in urban planning.
Based on the above, the trainings
also speeded up the acceleration of
transition into energy effcient cities.
In Finland, UP-RES provided real im-
pact on the urban planning in Finn-
ish cities, as lessons learned from the
UP-RES course were adapted to the
urban plans, planning policies and
practices in Jyvskyl, Oulu, Mikkeli,
Kuopio and Sipoo.
There is an urgent need for closer
and more frequent liaison between
urban and energy planners. 46 short
and fve long courses were delivered
in fve partner countries, with about
1 000 participants. In the United
Kingdom, the number of participants
increased in the course of the 20
training events, indicating increasing
awareness about energy and urban
planning.
UP-RES partners were able to create
sustainable training products. Similar
training sessions will be continued
in all partner countries. Other uni-
versities and planning schools have
shown interest in starting their own
training based on UP-RES. Thus, the
need for training on energy-effcient
urban planning remains and has be-
come even stronger.
All human activity involves energy in
various forms, and so do the emis-
sions caused by energy consumption.
Urban structures currently either sup-
port or hamper the improvement of
energy effciency and the expansion
of the energy generation from re-
newable sources. The urban planner
is the frst to act, but often does not
have the necessary skills to integrate
energy effciency and renewables
into urban plans. Not only co-opera-
tion but real co-planning with energy
planners is vital. In order to facilitate
co-planning, training of urban plan-
ners, who need to understand both
the quantitative impact and basic
requirements of energy from renew-
able sources, is important.
Nevertheless, such training faces
challenges due to the different
backgrounds of energy and urban
planners (e.g., civil engineers vs. ar-
chitects with mathematical/physical
science vs. aesthetic/behavioural sci-
ences). Furthermore, there has not
been much research carried out on
integrating energy and urban plan-
ning issues. This research would usu-
ally provide the foundation for any
university level training, but as no
such tradition in research prevails,
training had to be based on exam-
ples, best practice cases, etc.
The project UP-RES improved com-
petence and built confdence on en-
ergy issues among urban planners
through tailored training design,
methodology and content. For the
professionals it was crucial to come
Urban planners with renewable
energy skills
Anna-Maija Ahonen, Aalto University Professional Development (Finland)
Project website: aaltopro.f/up-res
Project coordinator: Aalto University Pro-
fessional Development, Finland, Ms Anna-
Maija Ahonen, anna-maija.ahonen@aalto.f
Project budget: EUR 985 000.00
(EU contribution 75 %)
Project duration: 01.9.2010 - 28.2.2013
20
maintained a high population den-
sity per hectare and a high building
compactness, complexity of uses and
functions, and a walking scale to ac-
cess the main services needed on a
daily basis such as shops and urban
services, residents facilities such as
education and healthcare, leisure, or
even the workplace.
In 2013, European sustainable priori-
ties demand specifc sustainable ur-
ban strategies. Moreover, apart from
encouraging the European urban
model, we now have specifc needs,
such as compacting the extended
city that we have generated over the
last 50 years to create low density,
purely residential neighbourhoods.
The best features of the classic Euro-
pean city compared to the sprawling
city are not only its greater energy
effciency or lower level of CO
2
emis-
sions, but also its ability to improve
the residents environmental aware-
ness and their sense of well-being
and comfort. The simple saving of
time in traffc jams, for example, al-
lows more time for social activity,
stimulates social cohesion and is liv-
ing proof of the benefts of urban
complexity.
It is important that the European
Union, through its institutions or
networks like CAT-MED, encourages
sustainable urban models, and that
protocols can be set up for city plan-
ning in the same way that European
directives have been developed in
such areas as air or noise pollution
levels, or wastewater treatment.
Energy consumption is directly re-
lated to CO
2
emissions, and both is-
sues in turn are related to the con-
fguration of a city. These trends are
some of the elements that defne the
Sustainable Urban Models Platform,
which in 2011 emerged from the
CAT-MED Project, giving it durability
through a permanent structure that
currently has 31 members.
The current predominant urban
model coincides with the expansion
of the automobile and oil industry,
mainly in North America, where the
idea of urban sprawl and diffuse cit-
ies was spread. Nowadays, an empir-
ical relationship is evident: in those
cities where energy consumption is
higher, such us Houston, Phoenix
and Los Angeles, the level of urban
density is very low. Conversely, cities
(mainly in Europe, e.g., Barcelona or
Vienna) with high urban density lev-
els have a much lower energy con-
sumption. In a typical American city
97% of the population uses a private
car every day, while in a typical Med-
iterranean city 35% of the inhabit-
ants usually move on foot.
The main aim of CAT-MED is pre-
cisely to promote and encourage
the development of sustainable ur-
ban models that stimulate social and
territorial cohesion. The Platforms
capitalization process, URBAN EM-
PATHY, guaranties a permanent en-
richment through innovative input.
Fortunately, we dont need to invent
new urban models. The classic Eu-
ropean city with its many facets has
The urban sustainability of
compact cities
Pedro Marn Cots, Urban Environmental Observatory (Spain)
Programme website:
www.programmemed.eu
Project websites:
www.urbanempathy.eu
www.catmed.eu
Project lead partner: Malaga City
Council, Spain, Mr Pedro Marn
Cots, pmarin@malaga.eu
ERDF co-fnancing: 75%
Project duration:
June 2013 - November 2014
Fig. 10: Features of Green Apple, CAT-MED
pilot project of the sustainable urban model
neighborhoods (source: Urban Environmental
Observatory)
MULTI-LEVEL GOVERNANCE I Proceedings of the joint IEE & INTERACT seminar
21
thorities have signed up as coordi-
nators and are assisting their local
authorities in developing and imple-
menting local sustainable energy ac-
tion plans. More and more regions
are also establishing energy action
plans at regional level.
With a host of plans being developed
at all governance levels, it becomes
clear that strong collaboration is
needed to better link actions from lo-
cal, regional and
national plans,
thus allowing
a more coher-
ent delivery and
monitoring of
sustainable en-
ergy actions.
Regional sustainable energy
strategies to support efforts at
local level
Sustainable energy planning is in-
creasingly being recognised by
public authorities as having wider
socio-economic benefts. The im-
plementation of SEAPs can gener-
number of local authorities are draw-
ing up local energy plans to embark
on a journey towards sustainable
energy communities in response to
the growing importance of EU and
national sustainable energy policies
and obligations. The local efforts be-
come very visible through the key Eu-
ropean initiative, which involves local
and regional authorities in delivering
sustainable energy targets: the Cov-
enant of Mayors. This initiative has
been growing signifcantly over the
past fve years, and to date around
5 000 local authorities have signed
up to go beyond the European ener-
gy policy objectives and to submit a
local Sustainable Energy Action Plan
(SEAP).
In addition, over 100 regional au-
From European policy to local
action
In March 2007, the European Heads
of State adopted ambitious energy
and climate policy targets which
resulted in an increasing number of
policies and strategies being drafted
at local, regional and national level
as a response. Member States are
committed to supporting the Euro-
pean energy targets by transposing
various EU di-
rectives into na-
tional law, such
as on the energy
performance of
buildings, eco-
design and label-
ling of energy-
using products, renewable energy
and, most recently, on energy ef-
fciency. Moreover, Member States
have adopted national energy eff-
ciency (NEEAP
11
) and renewable ac-
tion plans (NREAP
12
), putting forward
catalogues of measures to deliver on
the European policy objectives.
At the same time, an increasing
Speeding up sustainable energy plan-
ning through multi-level governance
Planning and implementation of sustainable energy actions need better collaboration and coordination
between local, regional and national governance levels, in order to ensure a coherent but also swift
implementation of sustainable energy actions moving Europe towards its ambitious energy and climate
policy goals. Regional authorities can play an important role in this process in scaling-up local action
and effectively linking it with national policies.
11
See http://ec.europa.eu/energy/effciency/end-use_en.htm for national energy effciency action plans
12
See http://ec.europa.eu/energy/renewables/action_plan_en.htm for national renewable energy action plans
In our experience, cities do appre-
ciate external support and exchange.
Plus, collaborative processes are a
good way to motivate stakeholders!
22
governance structures.
One such good practice project is
the Intelligent Energy Europe funded
project ENNEREG, which set up col-
laborative structures between lo-
cal and regional level in 12 regions
across Europe. The benefts for both
municipalities and regional authori-
ties were manifold: reduced costs
and better impact for joint sustaina-
ble energy projects, access to region-
al infrastructure and funding, com-
mon learning and sharing of goals
between municipalities, and strong
support and expertise from regional
level (e.g., regional energy agency or
governmental departments), in par-
ticular for small-sized municipalities
that would not have the capacity to
develop a SEAP on their own.
While the technical know-how nec-
essary to reduce energy consumption
and increase renewable energy
supply is well documented and ready
for use, it is often the so-called non-
technological barriers that impede
the roll-out of sustainable energy so-
lutions. Examples of non-technolog-
ical barriers are lack of knowledge,
lack of capacities, ineffcient regula-
tory framework, administrative bur-
dens, etc. The European Territorial
Co-operation project SEACS (Sus-
tainable Energy Across the Common
Space) worked with regions across
the Channel in France and the UK
to set up partnerships and networks
to actively facilitate the exchange of
good ideas through a network of six
so-called energy ambassadors.
Since regional sustainable energy
ter address sustainable mobility is-
sues. Providing attractive alternatives
to private motorised transport can
only be realised based on an inte-
grated strategy involving communi-
ties across the region. The regional
level can also help with economies
of scale when it comes to looking
for fnancing of energy projects. Re-
gional authorities together with their
local counterparts can bundle small
investment projects in order to make
them bankable and attractive for in-
vestors
14
. Moreover, greater effcien-
cy in the procurement of goods and
services to deliver energy projects
can be achieved.
Effective regional SEAPs are com-
plementary to local efforts and inte-
grate already adopted local energy
plans. A serious attempt at stake-
holder participation is a pre-
requisite to a suc-
cessful process.
Facilitating multi-level govern-
ance
Multi-level governance refers to the
effective interaction between the
different political levels for an im-
proved coordination and coherence
between the local, regional, national
and European policy level. How to
better link the different governance
levels for a better co-ordination and
exploitation of scale effects was the
topic of a workshop session on re-
gional energy strategy planning. 22
participants exchanged good prac-
tices in engaging local authorities in
regional energy planning, and shared
experiences on setting up multi-level
ate signifcant investment and eco-
nomic growth, creating green jobs
and innovative industries. Moreover,
money spent on fossil fuels in most
cases leaves the regions economy,
while investment into energy eff-
ciency and local renewable energy
supply retains money within the local
economy, supports the development
of local value chains and increases
the resilience of a regions energy
network by diversifying the regions
energy supply. The EU energy bill
could be reduced by EUR 200 billion
annually in 2020, and more than two
million jobs could be created by then
if EU renewable energy and energy
effciency targets were achieved
13
.
Regional energy strategies have the
potential to accelerate the transi-
tion to sustainable
energy communities
by facilitating lo-
cal processes, by
bringing together impor-
tant stakeholders and by bringing in
specialist expertise and capacities. In
this way, energy aspects can be ad-
dressed that are better dealt with at
regional level.
Having a more strategic perspective
over a region can help to smartly es-
tablish a proftable renewable energy
infrastructure. In particular, where
small municipalities do not reach a
suffcient level of energy demand to
effciently operate, e.g., a biomass
plant, planning and building such
a plant that is cooperatively owned
by several municipalities can be a f-
nancially viable solution. In the same
context, the regional level can bet-
13
See http://ec.europa.eu/energy/effciency/eed/doc/2011_directive/20110622_energy_effciency_directive_slides_presentation_en.pdf
14
See for example Intelligent Energy Europe MLEI project ENSAMB: http://ensambprosjekt.wordpress.com/english-summary/
23
THE WHOLE PICTURE ACTIVITIES INSTRUMENTS
Global level
- UNFCCC
Goal setting
- defning the goal
Negotiation
- COPs
EU level
- renewable energy
Goal setting
- binding goals (! or ?)
Directive
- supporting structures
National level
- National Renewable
Energy Action Plans
Goal & Policies
- National Renewable
Energy Action Plan
National Policies
- fnancial support,
research and develop-
ment, etc.
Regional level
- strategic energy plan-
ning
Strategies
- strategic plans for
energy, climate, etc.
Regional Strategy
- strategic planning, net-
work, business develop-
ment, etc.
Local level
- sustainable energy ac-
tion plan (SEAP)
Implementation
- action plans, PPP and
implementation
Realization
- plannning, local co-
operation, partnership
In the European Territorial Co-op-
eration project Energy resund,
stakeholders from the two neigh-
bouring regions of Denmark and
Sweden are working across the bor-
der to set common standards that
support the transition to a joint re-
newable energy system. As an essen-
tial part of the project, municipalities
and energy companies across the
resund implement concrete renew-
able energy demonstration projects
such as large-scale heat pumps,
electricity storage facilities and joint
wind power platforms to stimulate
green co-operation between the two
countries. European funding is used
in this project to even go a step fur-
ther from cross-border energy plan-
ning, jointly realising projects on the
ground and infuencing the strategy
for political co-operation between
the metropolitan areas of Copenha-
gen and Malm.
Discussions dur-
ing the workshop showed that
many local and regional actors use
the framework of an Intelligent En-
ergy Europe or European Territo-
planning requires co-ordination with
a multitude of public authorities and
other stakeholders, regional energy
agencies can play an important role
as communicators and knowledge
providers, mediating between the
different levels of governance and
other actors involved. In the Spanish
Province of Alicante, the provincial
energy agency assesses the technical
and economic feasibility of projects
proposed by municipalities that re-
quest funding from the Provincial
Council. It also assists municipalities
in implementing sustainable energy
projects, mainly in the areas of pub-
lic lighting and renewable energy.
Currently, this agency is engaged in
drafting a provincial energy saving
plan, bringing together the Provincial
Council, local authorities and
major socio- economic actors
from industry, business and
professional
bodies. As an independ-
ent and competent expert, the Ali-
cante Energy Agency brings added
value to the public authorities.
rial Co-operation project to estab-
lish strategic partnerships that span
across governance levels, in par-
ticular through the establishment
of networking structures. This has
led to a transfer of knowledge and
know-how, an increased use of syn-
ergies and a better co-ordination of
roles and resources. What also came
across clearly in the discussions was
that multi-level partnerships bear the
potential of better matching strate-
gic goals with local needs and of in-
tegrating other strategic issues (e.g.,
social inclusion) in energy plans. Re-
gions are giving fnancial as well as
technical support to local authorities,
and in more than one occasion they
have initiated local pilots.
Changing a regional energy system
from fossil fuel to sustainable and
renewable energy requires a com-
mon vision about the specifc needs
and potentials in the region, in terms
of energy demand and supply for all
sectors in life. Local as well as re-
gional actors must work together to
ensure that such a vision becomes a
strong, consistent and integral part
of decision-making and action within
the region.
Fig. 11: Local Energy Action Plan for renew-
able energy and the multilevel governance
(source: Roskilde University Denmark)
24
The project team succeeded in trig-
gering almost 300 Sustainable Ener-
gy Projects (SEPs) - double the origi-
nal target. The evaluation shows that
these SEPs correspond to cumulated
investments of around EUR 250 000
million within the project period, and
are estimated to reach nearly a bil-
lion Euro by 2020. The total energy
savings are estimated to be around
200 000 toe (2 326 GWh), renewa-
ble energy production 1.6 million toe
(18 608 GWh) and reductions of CO
2
emissions more than 2 million toe
(23 260 GWh) - all fgures until 2020.
An interesting aspect of the project
has been how the regional part-
ners have supported the SEPs in
their regions in order to reach these
achievements; e.g., through capac-
ity building, awareness raising, direct
support such as assistance with fea-
sibility studies, or other types of in-
tervention that have helped the SEPs
to develop.
In addition, ENNEREG has fulflled a
successful twinning and replication
programme. A core activity has been
the twinning with regions outside
the consortium for direct interaction
on SEAP development and initiation
of SEPs in the twin regions. On both
sides, ENNEREG regions and their
twins evaluated the twinning experi-
ence as useful, and
of the part-
nerships are expected to continue
co-operation after the ENNEREG
project has ended.
The Regions 202020 platform has
been put in place as a facilitator of
How can regions contribute to ful-
flling the EUs sustainable energy
policy goals? This was the overall ob-
jective set for the ENNEREG project
on sustainable energy regions in Eu-
rope.
ENNEREG developed and imple-
mented regional Sustainable Energy
Action Plans (SEAPs) to steer the
sustainable energy process in the
following regions: Upper Palatinate,
Germany; Cyclades, Greece; Triangle,
Denmark; Basque, Spain; Madeira,
Portugal; Silistra, Bulgaria; Kaunas,
Lithuania; Blekinge, Sweden; Rhne
Alpes, France; Wales, United King-
dom; Pomerania and Wielkopolska,
Poland. A key element in this has
been a network oriented approach
for engaging the regions key stake-
holders; the process only succeeds
and creates momentum for a long-
term impact if a broad spectrum of
stakeholders from both the public
and private sector become engaged.
While some of the partner regions
had a more mature starting point
and were able to progress further in
the process, all regions took essen-
tial steps in creating a sustainable en-
ergy region. The successes, strengths
and weaknesses in the course of the
action have been evaluated for the
beneft of other regions, so they can
also make a start and progress along
the path towards becoming sustain-
able energy regions.
The work on regional SEAPs has been
accompanied by the promotion of
specifc sustainable energy actions.
Regions paving way for a
sustainable energy Europe
Nils Daugaard, Energy Consulting Network ApS (Denmark)
Programme website:
ec.europa.eu/energy/intelligent/
Project website:
http://www.regions202020.eu/
Project coordinator: Energy Consult-
ing Network ApS, Denmark, Mr Nils
Daugaard, nda@ecnetwork.dk
Project duration:
01.05.2010 30.04.2013
Fig. 12: Dessalinated water unit on the
Cyclades (photo: G. Makryonitis)
25
challenges in enhancing renewable
energy and green growth. This co-
operation has made it possible for
stakeholders to establish shared ini-
tiatives in several felds.
One example is the fndings from
the work with municipal regulation
of low-energy buildings. A review of
the strategies developed in the cities
of Copenhagen and Malm showed
that Malm benefts greatly from
implementing a systemized dialogue
with private developers at an early
stage of city planning, in order to en-
hance the energy effciency of new
buildings. The Builders Dialogue
proved to have great effect on the
duration and costs of construction.
Developers shared costs for com-
mon installations (such as parking
lots), and were inspired to reach for
even higher standards, while the mu-
nicipalities motivated many different
The cross-border co-operation
project Energy resund unites Dan-
ish and Swedish municipalities,
power suppliers and universities in
efforts to increase the share of re-
newable energy in the resund Re-
gion through strategic energy plan-
ning. The project focuses on the
crucial pillars in the transition of our
energy systems: What does it take
to enhance wind power production
by setting up plants shared between
two countries? How do we trans-
form electricity into heat? Is seasonal
waste storage cost-benefcial? What
is the ideal regulative set-up for low-
energy buildings? These are exam-
ples of questions the partners are
focusing their work on.
Energy resund offers stakehold-
ers across the energy planning cycle
(owner, producer, developer) the
opportunity to compare and share
Danish and Swedish incentives and
Energy resund a more sustainable
future through co-operation
Maja Baungaard Jensen & Neel Modin Ynddal, Energy resund (Denmark)
Karolina Huss, Interreg IVA resund-Kattegat-Skagerrak Programme (Denmark)
interaction between European re-
gions and communities on SEAP
actions. The website contains use-
ful information not only from the
ENNEREG project but also parallel
projects, and attracted great interest
with more than 327 000 visits to the
website during the project period. In
addition, almost 700 regional and lo-
cal stakeholders have joined the Re-
gions 202020 Network.
Due to the wide variation in regional
characteristics, there is no uniform
approach to how to design a SEAP
and SEP implementation process.
Regions that are starting such a
process must fnd a path suited to
the regions specifc circumstances.
ENNEREGs Inspiration Guide, build-
ing on the examples and learning of
the partner regions, helps regions
identify how they can take appropri-
ate steps in order to elaborate and
implement SEAPs. It is enriched with
extensive good practice examples
and implementation stories from
the achievements in the ENNEREG
regions.
developers to contribute, in order to
ensure variety in the new city area.
As a consequence of these positive
results, the City of Copenhagen has
now initiated the process of adjust-
ing the methods to Danish condi-
tions, guided by supervisors from the
City of Malm.
Another example is Green Co-op-
eration Denmark-Sweden. A cross
national visitors service was estab-
lished, offering delegations the op-
portunity not only to see a number
of applied technologies, but also
explore similarities and differences
in how policies and development
projects are planned and run. While
the Danish partner (State of Green)
already has a visitor service in place,
the Swedish organization is yet to be
established. As part of the project,
the Swedish counterpart Sustain-
able Business Hub launched the visi-
Fig. 13: Energy education in Wales
(photo: ENNEREG)
26
municipalities approved by the high-
est level of administration.
Moreover, the project fndings are
anchored at a municipal political
level by making use of existing or
developing offcial strategies, such
as the offcial strategic co-operation
between the cities of Malm and Co-
penhagen and municipal plans and
guidelines. At regional political level,
the project cooperates with the re-
sund Committee, in which municipal
and regional politicians inspire each
other in planning for the future of
the resund Region. The Committee
supports raising the project fndings
to national level, as contact between
the Swedish and Danish Energy Au-
thorities is important in order to initi-
ate changes in the energy measure-
ment framework in both countries.
tor service GreenTech Visits, and a
common platform was developed.
Delegations are offered frst-hand
experience of two different ways of
solving the green challenges of the
future. Green Co-operation Den-
mark-Sweden is a prime example of
the top green solutions in the re-
sund Region within climate adapta-
tion, sustainable urban planning,
waste treatment and biogas, as it
creates an important link between
foreign municipalities, companies,
etc. and local Swedish and Danish
counterparts.
One of the most important concerns
for the project is to ensure full inte-
gration of the fndings at local, re-
gional and national level. As exempli-
fed above, Energy resund supports
long-term co-operation between
Programme website: www.interreg-oks.eu
Project website: www.energioresund.org
Project lead partner: Energi resund,
Denmark, Ms Maja Baungaard Jensen,
maja.baungaard@luopen.lu.se
ERDF co-fnancing: EUR 782 882.00
Project duration:
January 2011- December 2013
f Fig. 15: Scholars during the puppet show
that took place in Denia during the EU Energy
Week 2012. (photo: Alicante Energy Agency)
f Fig. 16 & 17: LED street light installed in the
city of Benimassot within the Provincial Energy
Savings Plan. (photo: Alicante Energy Agency)
Fig. 14: Visit to wind turbine on European
Cooperation Day (photo: Energi resund)
27
domestic hot water systems in pub-
lic buildings in the city of Benifato to
more effcient ones.
Alicante Energy Agency also par-
ticipated in the development of the
concept and design, as well as pro-
viding a member of the jury for a
regional competition on exemplary
energy effciency works organised by
the Province of Alicante within the
Covenant of Mayors initiative. Onil,
the winning city, was awarded EUR
20 000 to install photovoltaic street-
lights with LED lamps in one of its
busiest areas.
veloped a Sustainable Energy Action
Plan and submit technical feasibility
studies for proposed energy effcien-
cy projects. The provincial authority
awards 95% grant funding through
a call to municipalities that are pro-
posing energy effciency and energy
savings projects, and that have ex-
pressed their frm commitment by
signing the Covenant of Mayors ini-
tiative.
The energy agency assists the provin-
cial authority in the selection process
by validating the technical and fnan-
cial feasibility of the proposed meas-
ures. It also supports the local munic-
ipalities in carrying out the measures
and monitoring energy consumption
reductions after the interventions.
The frst two calls enabled 62 mu-
nicipalities to reduce their energy bill
by EUR 500 000 per year - and CO
2

emissions by 700 tons/year in total.
Investments focused on improving
street lighting, and 17 municipalities
replaced sodium and mercury vapour
lamps with LED lights. LEDs were
also used in public schools in Biar,
replacing fuorescent tubes.
Another project from this call fo-
cused on changing old heating,
ventilation and air conditioning and
The example of the Province of Ali-
cante illustrates the important role
energy agencies can play in develop-
ing regional energy strategies. With
its technical expertise and capacity,
the energy agency is supporting the
provincial authority in the planning,
development and monitoring of the
provincial energy saving plan. More-
over, it helps with the design of tech-
nical and administrative tools for en-
ergy management, and supports the
Provincial Council in managing the
Covenant of Mayors in the Province.
Alicante Energy Agency works
closely with the provincial author-
ity, acting as a facilitator-interlocutor
with all municipalities in the delivery
of the plan. This plan is a technical
and fnancial tool that has a budget
of EUR 4.5 million for 2012 - 2014,
and is implemented through annual
calls. The idea behind the plan is to
assist municipalities fulfl their com-
mitment to the Covenant of Mayors,
help municipalities reduce their en-
ergy bills and improve the liquidity of
their public accounts.
To be able to beneft from the grant,
municipalities must be a signatory of
the Covenant of Mayors, have de-
Regional energy action planning in
the Province of Alicante
Gemma Beln & Antonio Belmar, Alicante Energy Agency (Spain)
Project website: www.alicantenergia.es
Agency director: Province of
Alicante, Spain, Mr Jose Luis
Nun, info@alicantenergia.es
28
ess, the municipality of Wittenberge
created a position of local energy
manager, located within the building
authority of the citys administration,
to implement the energy strategy.
On project level, the Baltic Energy
Compendium was elaborated as a
collection and conclusion of the en-
ergy strategies of the single project
regions. This should serve as a blue
print for other European regions,
promoting a bottom-up approach to
energy planning. The Baltic Energy
Declaration, signed by all PEA project
partners, commits the subscribing
party to sustainable energy produc-
tion and responsible use of energy,
hence contributing to the achieve-
ment of the EU 2020 targets.
to produce more energy from re-
newable energy sources and if yes,
from which resources and under
which conditions?, What can we
do to encourage the sustainable and
responsible use of energy by indi-
viduals, households, local companies
and administrative bodies?
Action plans for pursuing the imple-
mentation beyond the duration of
the project were a vital part of the
strategies, while project fndings
were presented at higher political
levels and in a European context;
e.g., round table meetings were held
on NUTS-II level and PEA participated
in the Baltic Sea Region Cluster Ini-
tiative Energy Effciency and Renew-
able Energy Sources.
The projects Lead Partner, the mu-
nicipality of Wittenberge in Germa-
ny, elaborated the strategy in joint
collaboration with the City Council,
public utilities, housing companies,
several administrative bodies, and
the projects scientifc partners. An
open and engaging dialogue ensured
the support of these actors. What
may have appeared trivial at the out-
set became, in fact, a key success
factor. Experience shows that it is
not enough to communicate the ad-
vantages and importance of sustain-
able energy production and supply
to stakeholders; it is crucial to listen
to their problems, and ideas. Inte-
grating the affected stakeholders in
the process of energy planning and
letting them know that their opinion
is vital, ensures their long-term sup-
port. As a consequence of this proc-
In recent years, the cost of fossil en-
ergy resources has increased heavily,
and this trend is likely to continue in
the medium and long term. Rising
energy costs contribute to steadily
increasing fnancial pressure on pub-
lic utilities and public transportation,
making it necessary to explore alter-
native energy sources, and absorb
rising costs by critically questioning
the status quo of energy consump-
tion and identifying existing energy
saving potential. By adding a value
base to new value chains, these chal-
lenges can be turned into opportuni-
ties and become the motor for sus-
tainable regional development.
The Public Energy Alternatives project
(PEA) addressed these challenges in a
transnational partnership consisting
of public authorities, research institu-
tions and mainstreaming partners, to
share knowledge and expertise for
the development and implementa-
tion of regional energy strategies.
At regional or local level, energy
strategies were elaborated for each
participating region of the PEA part-
nership and under the premise of
developing a realistic vision for
the regions. The potential of sustain-
able energy supply and consump-
tion based on renewable resources
was assessed based on the regions
renewable energy infrastructure
and its potential. Guiding questions
in the development of the strategy
were, for example, What have we
already done in terms of renewables,
rational use of energy, CO
2
emissions
saved?, Do we have the potential
Renewable energies as a motor for
sustainable regional development
Jan Schmidt, atene KOM GmbH (Germany)
Programme website: www.eu.baltic.net
Project website: www.peaproject.eu
Project lead partner:
Municipality of Wittenberge, Germany,
Mr Jan Schmidt, j.schmidt@atenekom.eu
Project budget: EUR 385 295.00
ERDF co-fnancing: EUR 288 971.00
Project duration:
September 2009 - December 2012
FINANCING INSTRUMENTS I Proceedings of the joint IEE & INTERACT seminar
29
The diffcult fund-
ing situation public
authorities fnd them-
selves in is further complicated
by other important barriers, such
as the lack of capacity to develop
bankable projects and lack of viable
fnancial models. Public authorities
often lack internal resources and
know-how for harvesting even prof-
itable low-hanging fruits with low
pay-back times, such as refurbish-
ment of public lighting. Barriers also
include high up-front costs for the
development of sustainable energy
projects as well as the low profta-
bility of many projects, even though
these projects might have high
socio-economic benefts. One such
example is the deep energy retroft
of existing housing, which, by tak-
ing a whole-building approach, can
result in much larger energy savings
than a conventional energy retroft
would, but payback times are often
too long to attract private investors.
annual allocation of EUR 2.43 billion
for energy effciency and renewable
energy measures planned through
the European Regional Develop-
ment Fund (ERDF) between 2014
and 2020. The proposed ERDF ring-
fenced share that should be used
for the transition to a low-carbon
economy is currently a minimum of
12% in less developed regions and
a minimum of 20% in other regions,
totalling at least EUR 17 billion for
that period (increased from the EUR
9.4 billon that was available be-
tween 2007 and 2013). At the same
time, the European Energy Effciency
Directive is calling Member States to
establish energy effciency obligation
schemes to direct private investment
towards energy effciency projects
16
.
Need for fnancing solutions
Seven years into the challenge to
make Europes energy system less
carbon-intensive, more effcient and
independent of fossil fuels by 2020,
it becomes clear that the costs of
achieving these targets cannot be
met by the public purse alone, and
the use of market-based instruments
needs to be increased. Signifcant
amounts of investment are needed
in the energy effciency of existing
infrastructures and an energy supply
based on renewables, at a time when
Europe is experiencing a severe eco-
nomic crisis. An estimated EUR 80
billion
15
needs to be spent annually in
Europe to achieve the target of 20%
reduction of primary energy use, as
set in the 20-20-20 objectives. This
amount is 33 times higher than the
Innovative fnancing mechanisms for
investments into energy effciency
and renewable energy
Financing the implementation of sustainable energy measures remains one of the biggest challenges on
the path towards sustainable energy communities. In spite of political commitment and sound action
planning at local level, crucial projects are often not realised by municipalities due to a lack of fnancial
resources and a lack of capacity to apply fnancing mechanisms. Nevertheless, interested municipalities
and regions can learn from a growing number of good practice examples on overcoming funding barri-
ers through the innovative fnancing solutions that exist across Europe.
15
Source: European Commission, DG Energy
16
See Directive 2012/27/EU on energy effciency: http://ec.europa.eu/energy/effciency/eed/eed_en.htm
30
across the EU. The funding supports
project development costs and not
the actual energy investments, thus
assisting pubic authorities to buy in
necessary legal, fnancial and techni-
cal expertise.
Good practice examples
Substantial experience has been
gained over recent years as the use
of fnancial instruments has become
more wide-spread, and a consid-
erable number of good practice
examples has emerged many of
which originate from European Ter-
ritorial Co-operation and Intel-
ligent Energy Europe
projects. During our
seminar we dedicated a whole
session to a hands-on information
exchange between projects with
practical experience in fnancial en-
gineering and those eager to learn.
Five projects reported on how they
tackled the fnancing issue in their
context, the obstacles they faced,
and how they managed to overcome
them. All these examples illustrate
that public authorities have already
found smart fnancing solutions for
their sustainable energy projects. It
is crucial that local and regional au-
thorities across Europe transfer these
good practices into their own reali-
ties.
Financing for integrated urban
development
Sustainable energy investment
projects often follow a sectorial ap-
proach, focusing - for example - on
the refurbishment of buildings or the
development of a local renewable
In some European countries the law
does not allow public authorities to
increase debts, which often prevents
them from investing in sustainable
energy projects, even though this
would make economic sense in the
mid-term.
Other fnancial challenges, but also
effective solutions, are today well
documented; for example, by the
Finance Working Group of the
Smart Cities and Communities Stake-
holder Platform
17
.
The European Commission calls for
an increased use of ERDF funds to es-
tablish fnancing instruments such as
Jessica, Jeremie and Jaspers, which
help set up long-term fnancial vehi-
cles that support sustainable energy
projects. In addition, the European
Commission provides help to public
authorities in overcoming the bar-
riers associated with project devel-
opment through specifc assistance
facilities funded by the Intelligent En-
ergy Europe Programme, such as the
European Local Energy Assistance
(ELENA) and Mobilising Local Energy
Investment (MLEI)
18
. These facilities
aim to support shining examples of
organisational innovation to launch
investments in sustainable energy
projects that can be widely replicated
UrbEnergy
Programme website: http://eu.baltic.net
Project website: www.urbenergy.eu
Project lead partner: German Association
for Housing, Urban and Spatial Develop-
ment, Germany, Mr Christian Huttenloher,
c.huttenloher@deutscher-verband.org
Project duration: Octo-
ber 2008 - January 2012
17
http://www.eu-smartcities.eu/blog/fnance-group-documents-open-consultation
18
http://ec.europa.eu/energy/intelligent/getting-funds/project-development-assistance
JESSICA
JESSICA is a so-called revolving
fund. EU countries can choose to
invest some of their EU structural
fund allocations in revolving funds
to help recycle fnancial resources,
thus accelerating investment in
Europes urban areas. By allocat-
ing some of the European Regional
Development Fund money to Urban
Development Funds, which invest
them in public-private partnerships
or other projects included in an in-
tegrated plan for sustainable urban
development, this money takes the
form of equity, loans and/or guar-
antees. In this way, the returns
from investments are reinvested in
new urban development projects
and the public money is recycled.
For more information, visit: http://
ec. europa. eu/ regi onal _pol i cy/
thefunds/ i nstruments/ j essi ca_
en.cfm#1
31
MLEI POSITIF
Project website: www.energiespositif.fr
Project coordinator: SEM Ener-
gies POSITIF, France, Mr Jos LOPEZ,
jose.lopez@energiespositif.fr
Project budget: EUR 2 061
018.00 (EU contribution: 75%)
Project duration:
05.04.2013 04.04.2016
equity fnancing. Good results have
been experienced in Estonia (Kre-
dEx
19
) and England (London Ener-
gy Effciency Fund
20
). Urb.Energy
points out the importance of leav-
ing behind pure subsidy schemes
and instead establishing revolving
funds that are able to recycle money
and are long-lasting. However, the
project concludes that more techni-
cal support is needed to assist pub-
lic authorities in setting-up such
funds.
Energy Performance Contracting
Energy Performance Contracting
(EPC) has become one of the key
fnancial instruments for facilitating
investment into the energy effciency
of existing infrastructure, such as
buildings and lighting systems. The
promotion of energy saving services
by Member States is one of the ob-
ligations deriving from the Energy
Effciency Directive. Since the Euro-
pean market around EPCs has been
evolving in many directions, the
directive suggests minimum condi-
tions
21
which should be stipulated in
an EPC, in order to ensure a fair and
transparent contract between client
and service provider.
The Intelligent Energy Europe MLEI
project POSITIF is pioneering the
concept of EPC for deep renovation
of condominiums in the Region of
energy supply. The European Territo-
rial Co-operation project Urb.Energy
advocates a holistic view on the built
environment and social structure: it
combines the approach of energy
effcient refurbishment of residential
buildings with integrated urban de-
velopment concepts, the modernisa-
tion of the energy supply infrastruc-
ture, the revaluation of the residential
environment, and the identifcation
of innovative fnancing instruments.
Whilst there are funding mecha-
nisms available for sustainable en-
ergy projects on one hand and urban
development funds on the other, the
fnancing opportunities for properly
linking energy effciency and renew-
able energy supply with the urban
dimension in integrated urban de-
velopment concepts are yet to be
fully developed. The pooling of dif-
ferent funding sources remains a big
challenge for public authorities, and
impedes a more universal approach
in developing low carbon neighbour-
hoods in urban settings.
An important tool for using EU fund-
ing for urban development which
may include energy refurbishment
is JESSICA. This fnancial instrument
helps to set up revolving funds that
can provide loans, guarantees or
19
http://www.kredex.ee/energy-effciency/
20
http://www.leef.co.uk/
21
Directive 2012/27/EU on energy effciency, Annex XIII
The idea of Energy Performance
Contracting
Energy Performance Contracting is
a proven, cost-effcient instrument
for tapping existing energy saving
potentials in the building sector. An
Energy Service Company (ESCO) im-
plements a customized energy serv-
ice package consisting of planning,
building, operation & maintenance,
optimisation, fuel purchase, (co-) f-
nancing and user behaviour.
The contract between ESCO and
the building owner contains guar-
antees for cost savings, and takes
over the fnancial and technical
risks involved in implementation
and operation for the entire project
duration of typically 5 to 15 years.
The EPC service or main parts of it
is paid by realized energy cost sav-
ings.
More information on: www.euro-
pean-energy-service-initiative.net
32
ings, as well as the payback of the
investment with the delivery risk
transferred to the ESCO. The energy
investments are fnanced through
own capital, borrowing (e.g., Lon-
don Energy Effciency Fund provided
through JESSICA), third party fund-
ing, service agreements or operating
leases. Up until now, the programme
has invested around EUR 17.5 mil-
lion in energy effciency measures in
136 public buildings, resulting in an
annual energy cost saving of more
than EUR 2.5 million. By 2015 it aims
to cover 600 London public sector
buildings and reap savings of EUR 14
million per year.
The Belgian Province of Limburg is
also using an ESCO to achieve their
ambitious target of becoming cli-
mate neutral by 2020. In a concerted
effort, 44 Mayors throughout the
province signed up to the Covenant
of Mayors initiative, signalling their
political commitment to support
the climate and energy targets. The
Province of Limburg is leading a con-
sortium of local partners, including
the provincial energy grid operator
Infrax in the IEE MLEI project ESCO-
LIMBURG2020. This project aims to
accelerate the large-scale retroftting
to high energy standards (average
savings of 40%) of the public build-
ing stock owned by the 44 munici-
palities and the province itself, by
making use of an optimised ESCO-
model. This solution aims to relieve
the local authorities from complex
investment processes. The ESCO of-
fer consists of the management of
the whole energy retroftting process
on behalf of the municipality, from
the feasibility analysis to the tender-
ing and implementation of the work.
The investments are either paid up-
front by the municipality or deferred.
Grid operator Infrax will act as the
Ile-de-France. For this purpose, the
regional authority set up a public-
private Energy Service Company En-
ergies POSITIF in January 2013 with
capital of EUR 5.3 million from re-
gional and local authorities and the
banking sector (Caisse des Dpts et
Consignations and Caisse dEpargne
Ile-de-France). The ESCO will develop
an innovative EPC model based on a
design-implement-operate contract
for works and services, a guarantee
on energy performance in the opera-
tion phase, and the refurbishment
to the French low energy building
standard (BBC - btiment basse con-
sommation). The innovation also lies
in the ESCO providing full technical
coordination of the work, including
a fnancing offer for deep renova-
tion projects that will have long-term
contracts running for 15 to 30 years.
The project aims to mobilise energy
investments of nearly EUR 40 million
in the low-energy refurbishment of
condominiums, social housing and
public buildings by 2016.
Londons building retroft pro-
gramme RE:FIT was launched by
the Mayor of London (Greater Lon-
don Authority) in 2010 and is funded
through the ELENA facility of the
European Investment Bank. RE:FIT is
an Energy Performance Contracting
framework for public sector organi-
sations, providing guaranteed ener-
gy savings across a portfolio of build-
ings and over a set payback period. A
team called the Programme Delivery
Unit was tendered by the Greater
London Authority and supports cli-
ents through all stages of their RE:FIT
projects: identifcation of buildings,
energy benchmarking, fnancing op-
tions, setting energy saving targets
and payback times, selecting and
supervising ESCOs carrying out the
works and guaranteeing the sav-
RE:FIT
Programme website: http://
www.eib.org/products/elena/
Project website: http://www.reft.org.uk/
Project coordinator: Greater London
Authority, United Kingdom, Ms Vicky
Kingston, vicky.kingston@london.gov.uk
Project Management, United Kingdom
Project duration: 2011 -2013
ESCO Limburg
Project website: www.escolimburg2020.be
Project coordinator: Province of
Limburg, Belgium, Mr Patrick Bouc-
neau, patrick.boucneau@limburg.be
Project duration: 01.04.2013 31.03.2016
33
ManagEnergy
22
initiative organises
45 capacity building workshops as
part of a European EPC campaign,
which in the future will also include
webinars organised by the Covenant
of Mayors Offce
23
. A special corner
at the ManagEnergy website is dedi-
cated to project fnancing, explaining
fnancing instruments and present-
ing some case studies. In addition,
the corner will inform about future
workshops and conferences around
the theme of sustainable energy in-
vestments.
ESCO, and aims to bundle total en-
ergy investments of almost EUR 20
million over the course of the next
three years.
Voluntary agreements
The ETC project ELIH-MED focuses
on improving energy effciency and
promoting energy saving in low
income housing in the Mediterra-
nean region, and looks at innova-
tive fnancial mechanisms backed
by ERDF funds. The project is on-go-
ing, and the pilot energy refurbish-
ment projects to be implemented
by the partners will experiment with
a number of innovative fnancing
mechanisms. One of those is vol-
untary agreements with the private
sector. Voluntary agreements in the
framework of large-scale energy ef-
fciency projects are contracts be-
tween a local, regional, national
government or public sector or-
ganisation and an industry partner,
with negotiated targets, clear com-
mitments and time schedules for all
participating parties. The agreements
can either be based on mutual vol-
untary commitment or facilitated
through legislation or taxation poli-
cies, setting specifc obligations on
sectors. For example, the Municipal-
ity of Genoa was able to leverage in
some funding for the refurbishment
of apartment buildings from con-
struction companies by means of
voluntary agreements.
Capacity building
There are many other ways of f-
nancing sustainable energy projects
around Europe and there is a wealth
of case studies - including ELENA
and MLEI projects- using different
instruments successfully. In order
to support municipalities in fnding
innovative ways of fnancing their
sustainable energy projects, the
ELIH-MED
Programme website: www.
programmemed.eu
Project website: www.elih-med.eu
Project lead partner: National Agency
for New Technologies, Energy and
Sustainable Economic develop-
ment (ENEA), Italy, Ms Anna
Moreno, anna.moreno@enea.it
Project duration: April 2011 - March 2014
Fig. 18: Energy refurbishment of low-
income housing in Genoa, Italy (pho-
to: ELIH-Med)
Fig. 19: Energy refurbishment of stu-
dent residences in Komotini, Greece
(photo: ELIH-Med)
22
www.managenergy.net
23
www.eumayors.eu
Gateway to Project Develop-
ment Assistance facilities
Project Development Assistance
(PDA) is targeted at public authori-
ties and bodies, and covers up to
90% of the technical support cost
needed to prepare, implement
and fnance the investment pro-
gramme. This could include feasibil-
ity and market studies, programme
structuring, energy audits and ten-
dering procedure preparation. With
solid business and technical plans
in place, this will also help attract
funding from private banks and
other sources. MLEI and ELENA
PDA facilities are funded through
the Intelligent Energy Europe Pro-
gramme and are separately man-
aged by the Executive Agency for
Competitiveness and Innovation,
European Investment Bank, Coun-
cil of Europe Bank, Kreditanstalt fr
Wiederaufbau and European Bank
for Reconstruction and Develop-
ment. More detailed information
and case studies are available at:
http://ec.europa.eu/energy/intel-
ligent/getting-funds/project-devel-
opment-assistance/index_en.htm
PROGRAMMES I Proceedings of the joint IEE & INTERACT seminar
34
The Intelligent Energy Europe (IEE) programme fnances projects promoting the uptake of sustainable energy
solutions. Launched in 2003 by the European Commission, the programme is part of a broad push to create an
energy-intelligent future for us all. It supports EU energy effciency and renewable energy policies, with a view to
reaching EU 2020 targets. The programme is managed on behalf of the European Commission by the Executive
Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation (EACI).
Find out more about our projects and visit us on http://ec.europa.eu/energy/intelligent.

Please also visit the ManagEnergy portal which is a technical support initiative of the Intelligent Energy - Europe
(IEE) programme and which aims to assist actors from the public sector and their advisers working on energy ef-
fciency and renewable energy at the local and regional level. www.managenergy.net/

The Intelligent Energy Europe programme is also funding the Covenant of Mayors initiative, which is the main-
stream European movement involving local and regional authorities, voluntarily committing to increasing energy
effciency and use of renewable energy sources on their territories. www.eumayors.eu
About Intelligent Energy Europe
About INTERACT
INTERACT is a programme co-fnanced by the European Regional Development Fund and the EU Member States,
Norway and Switzerland. Since 2003 we have been delivering services to European Union programmes working
with European Territorial Co-operation: we are the European programme created especially for assisting territorial
co-operation programmes.
What does INTERACT do?
We provide practical support, training and advice to European Territorial Co-operation programmes on manage-
ment techniques, fnancial issues, European regulations, communication, strategic orientation and policy develop-
ment.
We also offer a unique forum for European Territorial Co-operation stakeholders by supporting institutional and
thematic networks on topics of common interest.
Find out more about our activities and services on www.interact-eu.net
Our expertise includes:
f Programme and fnancial management
f Project management and support
f Capitalisation for co-operation programmes and projects
f Strategic programme planning
f Audit and control
f Monitoring and evaluation
f Communications
PROJECTS I Proceedings of the joint IEE & INTERACT seminar
35
ACRONYM WEBSITE BRIEF DESCRIPTION
City_SEC www.citysec.eu Capacity building for municipal staff and decision-makers to be
able to draft and implement Sustainable Energy Action Plans
and become active members of the Covenant of Mayors initia-
tive.
100% RES
COMMUNITIES
www.100-res-communities.eu Experimenting and spreading the model of joint Sustainable
Energy Action Plans (SEAPS) development and implementation
in rural territories and towns in 10 European countries.
COOPENERGY www.coopenergy.eu Foster the development of collaboration models in sustainable
energy planning between the regional and local public authori-
ties to lead the transition towards low carbon communities and
regions.
COVENANT
CAPACITY
www.covenant-capacity.eu Testing and roll-out of a comprehensive, well-structured Euro-
pean Local Government capacity building programme to sup-
port all the phases of implementing a SEAP, and to empower
municipalities to engage in the Covenant of Mayors.
ENERGY FOR
MAYORS
www.energyformayors.eu Strengthening the role and capacity of Covenant Coordinators
and Supporters as well as at assisting in the development and
implementation of Sustainable Energy Action Plans with local
authorities.
ERENET http://erenet.epu.ntua.gr/ Development of an intelligent and integrated Rural Web
Energy Learning Network for Action with the aim to assist the
rural communities to develop their specifc SEAPs and identify
bankable projects.
GREEN TWIN-
NING
http://green-twinning.eu/ Supporting local authorities in the preparation and implementa-
tion of their Sustainable Energy Action Plans through twinning
partnerships and tutoring.
MESHARTILITY www.meshartility.eu Development of procedures to facilitate the exchange of data
of energy consumption among energy utilities and public au-
thorities responsible for the development of SEAPs.
NETCOM www.networkingcovenantofmayors.eu Creation of 12 permanent national/regional Covenant Network-
ing Platforms with active involvement of LAs and national/
regional key actors.
PATRES www.patres.net Enhancing effective policies fostering the introduction of
renewable energies (RES) in building regulations and codes for
new or refurbished buildings and improving RES-related public
procurement.
Region of Trier
Energy Agency
www.energieagentur-region-trier.de EART has participated in the setup of the nearly passive-house
settlements,vocational training course for school teachers and
citizens, provides lists with energy consultants and funding pos-
sibilities for retrofting of existing buildings.
SEAP PLUS www.seap-plus.eu Enhancing the Covenant of Mayors results and impacts
through increasing the number of Covenant Coordinators/Sup-
porters and signatories with Sustainable Energy Action Plans.
SMILEGOV www.sustainableislands.eu Seting-up clusters of European islands that will facilitate the
exchange between different levels of governance and be-
tween different clusters in order to support the development
of sustainable energy action plans and the implementation of
concrete actions.
SUSREG www.susreg.eu Improving the knowledge, attitudes and skills of professional
planners through a 3-stage capacity building programme in-
cluding on-the-job training of planners on real case examples.
Other participating IEE projects
PROJECTS I Proceedings of the joint IEE & INTERACT seminar
36
Timis County
Energy Agency
www.ame.ro Timis County Energy Agency assisted the drafting of the Energy
Master Plan for the Region, education, awareness raising and
examines the potential for geothermal energy in the area.
Warminsko- Ma-
zurskie Energy
Agency
www.wmae.pl The Agency has supported municipalities of the Region cov-
ered in energy planning,promoted the use of solar panels in
households,development of agricultural biogas and education
at schools.
West Portugal
Energy Agency
oestesustentavel@oestedigital.pt Assists primarily the 14 covered municipalities of the Associa-
tion with drafting of SEAPs and submitting,reduction of energy
use in buildings, public procurement and transport.
ACRONYM PROGRAMME WEBSITE BRIEF DESCRIPTION
KliKER - Klimakommunen in
der Euregio Rhein-Waal
Germany - Netherlands (DE-
NL)
Development of climate change action
plans.
SEACS - Sustainable Energy
Across The Common Space
France (Manche) - England
(FR-GB)
www.seacs.info Establishing a network of six energy
ambassadors that raise awareness,
advise and promote opportunities for
individual households, communities,
schools and partner authorities to
reduce their energy demand.
EnSURE - Energy Savings
in Urban Quarters through
Rehabilitation and New Ways
of Energy Supply
Central Europe Programme www.ensure-project.
eu;
Development of strategies for an
energetic rehabilitation of the building
stock and energy effciency in urban
development.
ENERMED - Mediterranean
Renewable Energies
Mediterranean www.enermedproject.
eu
Improving regional policies within the
Mediterranean region in support of the
integration of renewable energies.
ZECOS - Development and
Introduction of the Com-
munal Zero CO
2
Emission
Certifcation System as a Tool
for Sustainable Communities
and Regions
North West Europe Pro-
gramme
www.zecos.eu Developing a Zero CO
2
Emission
Awarding System acknowledging
communities which set themselves CO
2

emission reduction goals that are far
beyond the regular compliance.
EnergyCity Reducing
energy consumption and
CO2 emissions in cities across
Central Europe
Central Europe Programme www.energycity2013.
eu;
ENERGYCITY aims at contributing
to the implementation of renewable
energy sources and effciency practices
in cities in Central Europe through data
collection, the refnement of an online
Spatial Decision Support System and
implementation of concrete actions in
cities.
SEAP APLS - Sustainable
Energy Action Plans
Alpine Space Programme www.seap-alps.eu Promotion of sustainable energy plan-
ning at local level and sharing of a
common methodology through capac-
ity building.
Energy Cluster Baltic Sea Region Programme eu.baltic.net/Ener-
gy.21783.html
Cluster of sustainable energy projects
in the INTERREG Baltic Sea pro-
gramme.
ACE-NWE - Academy of
Champions for Energy
North West Europe Pro-
gramme
www.aceforenergy.eu Demonstrating and promoting the
increased use of renewable energy
among local authorities, businesses
and citizen to foster sustainable energy
communities.
Other participating ETC projects
Please visit our projects database for an overview and detailed information of IEE projects: http://eaci-projects.eu/iee

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